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Imagine the Universe, swirling mysteriously across untold aeons and dimensions. Within this maelstrom, how can one isolate the force that is Mauer Power? How far does it extend? Is it more polite than other Universal forces, like Hulkamania? My goals may be lofty in this Universe, and yet I am COMPELLED to write yet another column about Mauer and the home runs. This Question of the Ages is a perennial classic for the local sports media. For most of them, it seems Mauer Power did not increase t
The tarp covering the infield in Cedar Rapids was wet from a mix of rain and snow flurries over the past couple of days, but fortunately the only "work" that this year's Cedar Rapids Kernels had to do on Tuesday was do a meet and greet with fans on the concourse and, for a select few, survive a brief media inquisition. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/DSC_0075-2-1-600x358.jpg L to R: pitching coach Cibney Bello, manager Toby Gardenhire, hitting coach Brian Dinkelman, p
Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton are arguably the Twins most notable young stars. On offense, they provide value in different ways, but Paul Molitor's hope is to get a high level of production out of each of them. So early into the 2018 Major League Baseball season, there's not much to be said about the sample sizes or returns. One thing appears certain though, opposing pitchers are attacking the Minnesota duo in a similar fashion. Through their first four games, Sano and Buxton have seemed to be
Through the first weekend of the 2018 Major League Baseball season, the Twins have experience both heartache and jubilation. From a walkoff loss to a pair of dominating wins, the emotions have run the gambit. While not trying to analyze everything from such a small sample on a granular level, there's been a few things that have stuck out across the first trio of games. Having now just left Baltimore and embarked on Pittsburgh, everything Minnesota has accomplished thus far has come in the same
First Jake Odorizzi pitches six innings of shutout baseball in the opening game. Then Kyle Gibson pitches six innings of shutout and hitless baseball – arguably a step above Odorizzi.. Yesterday, Jose Berrios pitches nine innings of three-hit, one walk, six strikeout baseball - even better than Gibson.. Today, Starter Lance Lynn pitches at noon, central time. No pressure though. You think!?!
As we carefully analyze each game of the new season and try to read the tea leaves on each swing of the bat I thought I would provide just a little change of pace and look at another story from baseball history. While Civil War general Abner Doubleday is mythologically given the title of the founder of the game of baseball, a myth that has been refuted by nearly every scholar, we should look at baseball and an even more famous General – William Tecumseh Sherman. In his biography by James Le
For the Minnesota Twins 4th round pick in the 2015 Amateur Draft, they selected Trey Cabbage. Since Trey was drafted, he has been hitting .229/.305/.325 for the GCL Twins, Elizabethton Twins, and the Cedar Rapids Kernels. I had a chance to speak to Trey via. Instagram. Me: What has been your favorite memory in the Twins organization? Trey: Obviously draft day was surreal, but not one thing sticks out. The camaraderie and just the time spend and the grind you have with your boys and teammates
The Twins infield depth took a real hit when it was announced that Jorge Polanco would have to serve an 80-game suspension for testing positive for PEDs. As it stands, every Twins infielder on the Twins 40-man roster is also on the 25-man roster. Again, for these projections I used PECOTA (via Baseball Prospectus), along with ZiPS and Steamer (via Fangraphs) to group with with my personal projections for each player in the Twins infield. Jason Castro, C It’s hard to find a player that ha
This is an except of a post that originated at Zone Coverage; please read the entire thing here. The 2016 season opened with a walk-off loss for the Minnesota Twins in Baltimore. Then again, it also began with Miguel Sano playing right field, so the parallels probably stop there. But the Twins opened the 2018 season in stunningly similar fashion to two years ago, when the wheels fell all the way off on the path to a 103-loss season, the No. 1 overall pick and the bouncing bundle of prospec
One of the biggest questions entering the 2018 season is what we can expect to get from Kyle Gibson. Much attention has been given to the differences in his 1st and 2nd half, so I'd like to take a look and see what version of Kyle Gibson we will get in 2018 or if it is somewhere in between. I don't just want to throw a bunch of statistics at you as that doesn't help determine if his 2nd half is truly repeatable, but I do want to start there as that will guide the rest of the article. Here ar
Obviously one game, but what pitching! Odorizzi sp? Was terrific, Reed unspeakable, and even the guy who kept throwing it into the ground I can see is gonna be a big help. seems Falvine knows how to construct a team. Biggest disappointment is Sano, Im so sick of him going to the plate and not even coming close to the ball, If the the wins can trade him, move Escobar back to third and Ehire to Short Anyway excited about this season we are gonna be in it, be real contendters!
The Minnesota Twins abruptly canceled the remainder of the 2018 season today after losing their opening game to the Baltimore Orioles, 3 to 2. "Crushing defeat," said Derek Falvey, who took the rap like a man. "I apologize to the Pohlad family for putting a losing squad on the field. I hereby submit my resignation." Falvey was quickly joined by the rest of the Front Office, plus all the Twins coaches and Paul Molitor, the team's Hall of Fame manager. Various players either simply left t
If there is one thing we can all agree on regarding the 2018 Minnesota Twins, it’s that they have a higher floor than their 2017 counterparts. With key additions in the rotation, bullpen, and at DH, Minnesota baseball fans are eagerly anticipating the start of a new season. With a higher floor, established pieces are going to have to maintain, or raise the level of their game in order to keep their jobs. Most notably; Taylor Rogers. Rogers was drafted by the Twins in the 11th round in 2012 out
The first time I remember watching Minor League Baseball was when I was 11 years old on vacation to visit family living in Appleton, Wisconsin. At the time, the city was home to a Midwest League affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, the Appleton Foxes. That season, they had a player who went on to become one of the greatest and most hated baseball players the game has ever seen—a wiry shortstop by the name of Alex Rodriguez who would make his Major League debut at just 18 years old later that same
Some folks will tell you there's a special kind of magic to Opening Day. But ask a stathead to identify exactly what type of magic we're dealing with and the room goes quiet. Is it simply the crack of the bat, the taste of the hot dog, and the lack of parkas? Surely this magic is there, but there are levels of mysteries in this world. Some of these mysteries can disturb the very foundations of reality, yet when handled with a cool, level hand (such as mine), a baseball fan can learn of NEW WOR
We've made it, it's finally here, the last day without meaningful baseball for the next six months has arrived. On March 29th, the Minnesota Twins will kick off the 2018 Major League Baseball season with Jake Odorizzi toeing the rubber against Dylan Bundy and the Baltimore Orioles. Having offered some opinions on the league-wide awards, I figured now would be a good time to dive into my predictions for the hometown club. Going into the year, expectations are relatively high for Paul Molitor's
Travis Blankenhorn was drafted in the 3rd round in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Pottsville Area High School in Pennsylvania when he was 18. Blankenhorn has escalated to now be one of the top third baseman in the Twins farm system, with a career .260/.340/.463 slash line that will improve as he gets older and moves through the system. I got a chance to ask Travis a few questions via Instagram. Me: What is your favorite baseball memory with the Minnesota Twins organization so far? Travis Blankenh
It is time for round two of my player projections for the 2018 Minnesota Twins. In the first edition I broke down the starting pitchers, and now it is time to take a look at the bullpen. The Twins bullpen received an added boost this offseason, after replacing Matt Belisle, Dillon Gee and Buddy Boshers with Fernando Rodney, Addison Reed and Zack Duke. Hopefully these improvements can elevate the Twins bullpen out of the gutter it has been in during recent years. So, how good will the Twins b
Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- This is my last Spring Training Notes piece for this season. As with the previous seasons I finish my Spring Training notes with a prediction of how the Twins will do this season based on what I have seen this Spring. I think that 2018 will be an interesting season for the Twins. They improved a lot in the off-season addressing some of their glaring weaknesses, namely starting and relief pitching. On the other hand, there are some situations
Brand new Supershow! In preparation of Opening Day this Thursday, Dan and Panda called in reinforcements and got a who's who of guests to give their predictions on the 2018 Minnesota Twins! Marc Mastel, William Bohl (A Wolf Among Wolves), Tony Abbott & Joe Bouley (Hockey Wilderness), Cody Christie & John Bonnes (Twins Daily), Jim Sannes (numberFire), Ben Remington & Giles Ferrell (Giles and the Goalie - A Minnesota Wild Podcast / Zone Coverage), and Brandon Warne (The Athletic Mi
Back on March 10th, I made some tweaks to my initial Minnesota Twins roster project and dubbed it 2.0. Looking back at that entry, it seems near perfect to me, but there's been a few minor tweaks since that point. With Opening Day happening this week, I figured it a good time to put everything down in pen and make a final suggestion as to what Paul Molitor has available in Baltimore. Keeping with the previous theme, I'll include the players from roster projection 2.0 and simply strike-through
Yesterday, I started to unveil my top 10 prospects for the Minnesota Twins. In case you did not see that article, here is the rundown... 10. Akil Baddoo, OF 9. Blayne Enlow, SP 8. Brusdar Graterol, SP 7. Alex Kirilloff, OF 6. Brent Rooker, OF/1B Here is the rest of the list... 5. Wander Javier, SS (2017 team: Elizabethton) Last season was Javier’s first taste of pro baseball in the United States after being a big money International Free Agency signing in 2015. In his first season in th
The Minnesota Twins recently broke camp down in Fort Myers and have since headed to Washington, D.C. to play their last exhibition game of 2018. With the Nationals lined up as the last action before heading to Baltimore, Paul Molitor will have to soon set his 25 man roster in stone. Given that the lineup is all but a guarantee, the bench is really the only area of intrigue. Right now, there's two givens off the bench for the Twins. Both Ehire Adrianza and Mitch Garver are locked in. The former
On Saturday, Tait went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 17th double. The 19-year-old is hitting .219 with 17 doubles and 15 home runs at High-A Cedar Rapids.
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